Education solution? It's elementary

Mr. Walter Williams' description about the state of higher education ("State of education is sad and laughable," Dec. 20) is correct. His examples reveal the dismal story of our current educational system.

We as a nation are spending the most but in return getting the least, as compared to other nations. The standard of higher education depends upon the standard of our schools and the pupils who are prepared by them. These schools are the nurseries of the higher-educational institutions. If these nurseries are bad and are not developing pupils properly, higher education is bound to be adversely affected.

So-called academically crippled pupils, as referred to by Mr. Williams, are not born as such. They have been made so because of many factors - the schools, the society, the parents, the economic structure, etc. This cannot be remedied by merely adjusting the funding to higher-education institutions. Ignoring pupils who are being called academic cripples may be an irresponsible act on the part of the nation as a whole. Remedial costs being faced by higher-education institutions can only be cut in the long run by fixing the problem from the foundation, and not avoiding it. We cannot remedy a diseased plant by spraying the leaves if the roots are infected.

If we want the best higher education, we must provide the best elementary education, the best resources and the best teachers. ... The concept of No Child Left Behind can be translated into action only if we as a nation fix elementary education. This will take care of the appalling plight of our educational system as a whole. This will take time, proper planning, a lot of patience, educational leadership, missionary zeal on the part of educators at all levels, and, above all, cooperation from homes and society. ...

Gursaran Singh Ahuja, Evans